Curling rod



May 27, 7- c. A. REININGER 2,421,287

CURLING ROD Filed Jan. 8, 1945 INVENTOR.

A T TUJPNE Y Patented May 27, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 7 Claims.

The invention relates to improvements in curling rods and particularly to a radially contractible hair curling rod of a kind especially adapted for use in the process commonly referred to as cold permanent Waving.

In cold permanent waving of hair the hair is divided into a large number of individual tresses which are wound upon curling rods and then are thoroughly saturated with a waving solution. After the waving solution has remained on the wound tress for a predetermined period of time, the wound tress is saturated with a neutralizing solution which washes out the waving solution.

In use, the curling rod is held at its ends in a position for attaching the free end of a hair tress thereto and it is then rolled between the fingers towards the scalp to wind the hair tress thereon. During the Winding operation the hair tress obviously is placed under considerable tension with the result that the hair tress is tightly wound upon the curling rod. Because a tightly wound curl prevents free penetration of the waving and neutralizing solutions to the innermost strands of the hair in the curl being processed, the innermost strands frequently are not sufficiently saturatedto insure proper conditioning of the hair. It is, therefore, advisable to provide in the curling rod means whereby the wound tress of hair may be made sufficiently loose, prior to the application of the solutions, so as to facilitate the free flow of the solutions to the innermost strands thereof. This desired degree of penetration of the solutions is made possible by the use of a curling rod embodying features of the present invention.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a curling rod with novel structural features enabling a contraction of its circumferential area so as to impart looseness to a curl wound thereon and thereby facilitate thorough penetration of the solutions throughout the entire body of the curl.

Another object of the invention is to pr vi a curling rod of the kind embodying features of the present invention with novel manually actuable means to cause positive radial contraction and expansion of said rod, and, further, to provide novelly attached means to secure a hair tress wound thereon against unwinding.

Another object is to provide a curling rod with a tubular contractible body easily fashioned from sheet material and provided with easily attached end closures.

Another object is to provide an adjustable curling rod of the kind disclosed herein with means at its ends to facilitate the grasping of said rod during the winding of a hair tress thereon.

Another object is to provide a curling rod of the kind having a contractible body with means to effect expansion and contraction of said body movable into engagement with novel elements formed on the body and shaped to afford maximum contraction and expansion of the body wall.

Another object is to provide a curling rod of the kind embodying features of the present invention with easily removable means for clamping a hair tress to the rod preliminary to the winding of said tress thereon.

Another object of the invention is to provide a radially contractible curling rod with gripping elements at its ends useful for attaching thereto means to retain a hair tress wound thereon.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawing which by way of illustration show a preferred embodiment and principle thereof and which is considered to be the best mode of applying that principle. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principle may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a curling rod embodying features of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the curling rod.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the curling rod showing the adjustable element in elevation.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse sectional detail view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse sectional detail view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 3, but omitting the clamp.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged transverse sectional detail view taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 2.

The curling rod illustrated in the accompanying drawing and embodying the features of the present invention preferably is shaped substantially cylindrical and has a mid-portion of uniformly contracted diameter which gradually increases towards the ends of the rod to provide end portions of substantially larger diameter. This shape of the curling rod is particularly advantageous in that it enables a hair tress to be wound substantially uniformly thereon with the thickest that the features of the invention may be incorporated in curling rods shaped other than the particular shape of the rod illustrated without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1.-A curling rod comprising, in combination, a tubular expansible body adapted to have a hair tress wound thereon, caps closing the ends of said body, a plug in one end of said body having a projection extending through the related end cap, a stem housed in said body and having an end portion extending through the other end cap and arranged for slidable movement therein, said stem being adapted when moved into a predetermined position of sliding adjustment to expand the body and a resilient strand connected at an end to said stem, said strand being formed at its other end to be engaged with the projection when said strand is extended lengthwise of the curling rod to retain a hair tress wound thereon.

2. A curling rod comprising, in combination, a thin walled tubular body closed at its ends and having a diametrically opposed pair of longitudinal slots terminating short of its ends, said slots defining like body portions substantially semi-circular in section, diametrically opposed chordal offsets formed in the thin body walls one projecting inwardly of each of said body portions, and means slidable in one body end engageable with said chordal offsets eifective to move said body portions outwardly in opposite directions.

3. A curling rod comprising, in combination, a tubular body having a normally contracted radially expansible intermediate portion, a clamp to fasten a hair tress to said body, said intermediate portion and said clamp being perforate, cam means including a stem actuable to cause said intermediate body portion to be held expanded while the hair tres is being wound thereon, said means being operable to enable said intermediate body portion to contract after said hair tress has been wound thereon, and means on said stem engageable with the curling rod to hold the hair tress against unwinding.

4. A curling rod comprising, in combination, an elongated body adapted to have a tress of hair wound thereon, means adjustable to hold said body expanded while said tress is being wound and to enable the body to contract after the tress is wound, and means carried by said adjustable means and engageable with the rod to secure the wound hair tress against unwinding,

5. A curling rod comprising, in combination, a shaped tubular body having circumferential spaced longitudinal slots terminating short of its ends, a fitting arranged at each end of said tubular body, a member mounted in one of said fittings, said member being movable into operative engagement with the inner surfaces of the body wall to urge portions thereof outwardly radially, a clamp on said body to secure a hair tress thereto while it is being Wound on said body, and means to secure the Wound hair tress against unwinding, said means consisting of an elastic strand anchored at an end to said member and adapted to be extended across the Wound tress and have its other end engaged with the other of said fittings.

6.'A curling rod comprising, in combination, a shaped tubular body having circumferentially spaced longitudinal slots terminating short of its ends, said slots defining spaced intermediate wall portions, a fitting at each end of said tubular body, a member mounted in one of said fittings, said member being movable into operative engagement with said wall portions to urge said portions outwardly radially, a clamp on said body to secure a, hair tress thereto While it is being wound on said body, said clamp being removable, and means to secure the Wound hair tress against unwinding, said means consisting of an elastic strand anchored at an end to said member and adapted to be extended across the wound tress and have its other end engaged with the other of said fittings.

7. A curling rod comprising, in combination, a shaped tubular body closed at its ends having normally contracted medial portions, an engageable member slidably mounted in one end of said body movable into cooperative engagement with the contracted portion of the body to expand said portion, and a fastening strand detachably carried by said member adapted to be extended across a hair tress wound on said rod and be engaged with the other body end to hold the hair tress from unwinding, said strand when so engaged frictionally restraining the engageable member from moving in a direction to operatively engage with the body portion.

CARL A. REININGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,290,578 Boals July 21, 1942 2,004,366 .Binder June 11, 1935 2,264,356 Berg Dec. 2, 1941 2,031,285 Solomon Feb. 18, 1936 2,112,073 Cunnyngham Mar. 22, 1938 2,112,074 Cunnyngham Mar. 22, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 460,580 Germany June 1, 1928 

